The Square shopping center, which will be home to a Trader Joe's in late 2014, is seen in this Oct. 30 photo in Midtown Fort Collins. / V. Richard Haro/Coloradoan library

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Trader Joe’s officially announced Thursday it will open its fifth Colorado store in Fort Collins next year.

As first reported by the Coloradoan last week, the California-based grocer has signed a lease at The Square on the northeast corner of College Avenue and Horsetooth Road.

The 12,200-square-foot store is slated to open in late 2014 in the former home of Corral West Ranchwear, which closed in early 2009 amid corporate bankruptcy filing. Since then, the space has been leased seasonally by a Halloween store.

Trader Joe’s officials declined further comment, including whether the store would sell its popular Two Buck Chuck wine.

Colorado liquor laws allow each grocery store chain to have only one full liquor license in the state. Trader Joe’s has gotten the OK to open a retail liquor store at its Colorado Boulevard store in Denver, making it highly unlikely the Trader Joe’s would be able to sell wine or full-strength beer in Fort Collins.

The law does not prevent grocery stores from selling beer with up to 3.2 percent alcohol content.

The Square, which lies in Midtown, is in for a major makeover, said Debbie Tamlin, who has been negotiating with Trader Joe’s for three years.

Signing Trader Joe’s is somewhat of a coup for Tamlin, who quietly worked on the lease even as representatives from Foothills Mall tried to attract the grocery store to the nearby mall property.

“I believe we have a superior location,” Tamlin said. “There’s great traffic at the corner and I believe Trader Joe’s is more of a fit for our development than the specialty shops going to the mall. We’re very pleased we could come to terms with them.”

The Square — cited in a study conducted by the city as an example of blight — will undergo a major renovation and get a dozen or so new tenants to fill its empty spots. Tamlin said she’s negotiating with about 15 different tenants. “I haven’t yet called them to tell them we have Trader Joe’s,” she said. “I guess that will put a spotlight on our center.”

Office Depot, the second-largest tenant at The Square, is in the process of vacating the center after it failed to come to a long-term lease agreement with building owner Darrell Knudson. The Square is not affiliated with Foothills Mall and is not part of the $312 million renovation expected to get underway later this year.

Trader Joe’s, which has 400 stores in 36 states, will open the first of its three Colorado stores in Boulder and Denver at 8 a.m. Feb. 14. A fourth location is planned near Governor’s Park in Denver.